Safety zone



Dec, 9, 1924.

G. R. WESTCOTT SAFETY ZONE Filed July 9, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet l NNN V: 3S mei.

Dec. 9, G. R. WESTCOTT SAFETY ZONE Filed July 9, 1924 4 Sheets-Shea?l 3 Dec. 9, 1924. 1,518,623

G. R. WESTCOTT SAFETY ZONE Filed July 9. 1924v 4 sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

GLEN R. WESTCOTT," OE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY ZONE.

Application filed July 9, 1524. Serial No. 724,968.

To {fk-ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, GLEN R. VVEs'roo'r'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angelesand State of California, have invented new and useful improvements in Safety Zones, of which the following is a specification.

An object is to provide and install mechanism along a highway such as a country road or a street and create a safety zone for the protection of pedestrians who wish to cross the highway.

Another object is to provide and 'install mechanism on opposite sides of a highway which must be operated by the passage of pedestrians to give signals to approaching traiiic and make it safe for the pedestrians to cross the highway.

Another object is to provide mechanism to be installed upon opposite sides of a highway and including entrance turnstiles through which pedestrians may pass, and to provide signals operated by the operation of the turnstiles to give signals to approaching traiiic.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the drawings and specification.

The drawings illustrate the construction and operation of a safety zone embodying theprinciples of my invention.

Figure 1 is a top plan View of an installed and operating safety zone, parts being broken away and shown in section and other parts being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-.2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through an entrance turnstile, the view being taken on the lines 3*?) of Figs. 1 and 2, and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. L is a fragmentary horizontal section on the lines 4-4 of Figs. 2 and 3, and looking downwardly as indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig.. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross seotion on the lines 6-6 of Figs. 1 and 2 and showing the stop signal withdrawn.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view analogous to Fig. G and showing the stop signal eX tended.

Fig. S is a horizontal section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 and looking downwardly as indicated by the arrows. i'

F ig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section on the line 9 9 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged vertical cross section on the lines` 10--10 of Figs. 1 and 2 and showing the slow signal withdrawn.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view analogous to Fig. 10 and showing the slow signal extended.

The details of construction and operation shown in the drawings are as follows:

ris shown in Fig. 1, the safety zone mechanism is laid out with reference to a city street in which the highway or vehicle road 1 is between curbs 2 and 3, and there are spaces l and 5 outside of the curbs 2 and 3 and inside of the sidewalks 6 and 7. It is to be understood that the safety zone is not intended for use where there is a tratlic jam as in the heart of a large city, but that it may be used in`the outskirts of a city or in smaller towns and in country places, as near schools, churches, and the like, and that it is especially intended for the protection of children and old or infirm people.

Chambers 8 and 9 are constructed below the surface of the ground in the spaces 4 and 5 and these chambers are connected by a conduit 10. The conduit passes under the highway 1 at the longitudinal center of the safety zone 11, which may be considered as extending from the line 12 to the line 13, and the traiiic passing over the highway 1 through this safety zone 11 will move in the direction indicated by the arrow 14; along the curb 2 and in the direction indicated by the arrow 15 along the curb 3. Opposite the rear end of the traiiic line 14 is an entrance turnstile 16 and opposite the front end of the traiiic line 14 is a signal tower 17, and in front of the signal tower 17 which displays stop signal is a signal tower 18 which displays a slow signal. The tower 17 may be a considerable distance from the turnstile 16 and the tower 18 a considerable distance from the tower 17 so as to warn trafc in the line 14 approaching the zone 11 to slow down as it passes the tower 18 and to stop or proceed cautiously as it passes the tower 17.

In a like manner, an entrance turnstile 19 is placed opposite the rear end of the trafiic line 15, a stop signal tower 20 is placed opposite the front end of the traiic line 15 substantially in the plane of the line 13, and a slow signal tower 21 is placed ahead of' the tower 20. A railing or fence 22 extends from the turnstile 16 between the space 4 and sidewalk 6 past the stop tower 17 to the exit turnstile 23 and a railing or fence 24 extends between the space 5 and sidewalk 7 from the entrance turnstile 19 to the exit turnstile 25, so that pedestrians passing the turnstile 16 and crossing the safety Zone 11 will pass the exit turnstile 25 to the sidewalk 7, and pedestrians passing the entrance turnstile 19 and crossing the safety zone 11 will pass the exit turnstile 23 to the sidewalk 6.

The chambers 8 and 9 are provided with covers 26 and 27. A chamber 28 is formed below the entrance turnstile 16 and provided with a cover 29. A chamber 30 is provided below the stop signal tower 17 and below the exit turnstile 23 and provided with a cover 31. A chamber 32 is provided below the slow signal tower 18 and provided with a cover 33. A conduit 34 connects the chamber 28 to the chamber 9. A conduit 35 connects the chamber 9 to the chamber 30. A conduit 36 connects the chamber 30 to the chamber 32.

A rotating post 37 extends through a bearing 38 in the cover 29 and into a bearing 39 at the bottom of the chamber 28. A pawl wheel 40 is fixed upon the lower end of the post and is engaged by a pawl 41 so that the post may rotate freely in one direction and is held against rotation in the other direction. A plurality of radial cross arms 42 is fixed through the post above the bearing 38 to be engaged by a pedestrian passing through the turnstile. A rigid post 43 is mounted at one side of the post 37 near the ends of the arms 42 so that the pedes trian may pass between the post 37 and the post 43 against the arms 42 and rotate the post 37. A rigid post 44 forms the end of the railing 22 and has rigid cross arms 45 intermeshing with the cross arms 42 so as to bar the passage between the post 37 and the post 44.

A hub 46 is fixed upon the post 37 below the cover 29 and has radial arms 47 of equal length and equally spaced apart. A bearing 48 is rigidly mounted in the chamber 28 and a lever is pivotally connected to the bearing 48 so as to be vibrated by the arms 47 as the post 37 is rotated by the passage of a pedestrian. A cable 50 is connected to the `free end of the lever 49 and extends through the conduit 34 around guide rollers 51 depending from the cover 27 and then through the conduit 10 and around guide rollers 52 depending from the cover 26.

The details of the stop signal tower 17 are as follows:

A hollow pedestal 53 is fixed in the flange 54 and the flange is bolted to the cover 31. A cap plate 55 is bolted to a fiange at the upper end of the pedestal 53. A piston cylinder 56 extends upwardly from the cap plate 55. A piston 57 operates in the cylinder 56 and has a stem 58 extending upwardly through a cylinder head and stufiing box 59. The piston 57 has ports 60. A small stem 61 extends downwardly from the piston 57 and has a head 62 on its lower end and a valve 63 is slidingly mounted on the stein 61, said valve 63 being a fiat plate adapted to cover the ports 60. The cylinder 56 lis filled with suitable oil to form a dash pot construction and the cylinder is divided into horizontal Zones 64, 65, 66 and 67. A small return pipe 68 connects the top of the Zone 64 to the bottom of the zone 64, and has a regulating valve 69. A free return pipe 70 connects the top of the zone 65 to the bottom of the zone 65. A small return pipe 71 connects the top of the zone 66 to the bottom of the Zone 66 and has a regulating valve 72. A free return pipe 73 connects the top of the Zone 67 to the bottom of the zone 67. The lines separating the zones 64, 65,66 and 67 are imaginary and the bottom of the zone 64 and the top of the zone 65 are in the same plane, and the bottoni of the zone 65 and the top of the Zone 66 are in the same plane, and the bottom of the zone 66 and the top of the zone 67 are in the same plane, the object being to make the piston 60 return from the top of the cylinder toward the bottom at varying rates of speed.

A frame 74 extends upwardly from the cylinder head 59 and has parallel sides 75 and 76 and a channeled back 77. A pawl support 78 is mounted to slide up and down in the channel 77 and carries a spring pressed pawl 79. A retractile coil spring 80 connects the support 78 to the cap plate 55. A chain 81 is connected to the support 78 and runs upwardly over a sprocket wheel 82 and then downwardly and is connected to a cable 83, which extends downwardly through a housing tube 84 and through the cover 31 and under a guide roller 85 mounted below the cover 31 and runs thro-ugh a conduit 35 and is connected to the cable 50 at the point 86 between the guide rollers 51and the lever 49, so that when the turnstile 16 is operated by the passing of a pedestrian thecable 83 is pulled to raise the pawl 79.

A dog 87 is rotatably mounted upon rthe stem 58 above the cylinder head 59 between set collars 88 and 89 and has an operating linger 90 extending diametrically opposite t-he effective end of the dog. Normally the dog 87 is in position to be engaged by the pawl 79 so that when the pawl goes up the piston 57 goes up, and a cam 91 is mounted in position to engage the linger 90 when the piston 57 is at the top of the cylinder 56 and the cam serves to move the finger 90 laterally to move the dog 87 out of engagement with the pawl 79 and allow the piston 57 to return and when the piston 57 goes to thev bottom of the cylinder 56 the linger 90 engages a reversing cain 92 and moves the dog 87 back into position. to be engaged by the pawl 79 ready to raise the piston again. A weight 93 is mounted upon the upper end of the stem 58 to assist in moving the piston 57 dow-nwardly under control of the dash pot arrangement.

A pin 94 is fixed through the stem 58 and extends through slots in the sides 7 5 and 7 6 so as to hold the stem 58 from rotating. The stop signal lever 95. has arms 96 and 97 fitting outside of the sides 75 and 7 6 and mounted upon alined pivots 98 and 99 inserted through the arms and through the sides 75 and 76 and the extreme ends of the arms 96 and 97 engage under the pin 94. The stop arm 95 normally is withdrawn into the casing 100 and hangs downwardly and swings freely upon the pivots 98 and 99, and when the turnstile pulls the cable 83 the pin 94 will go up and snap by the ends 96 and 97 causing the arm 95 to swing inwardly, and then-the arm 95 will again pass to normal position and as the pin 94 descends it will engage on top of the ends of the arms 96 and 97 and throw the stop signal outwardly and upwardly to a horizontal position, and continued downward movement of the piston will carry the pin 94 past the ends 0f the stop signal and allow the signal to swing downwardly into the casing.

Assuming that the parts are all in normal positions with the signal mechanism as shown in Fig. 6 and a pedestrian passes the turnstile 16, the cable 83 will be pulled and the piston 57 will be raised until the pin 94 passes the ends of the arms 96 and 97 and the dog 87 will be released from the pawl 7 9 and the piston 57 is free to descend under the dash pot control.' At this time the piston 57 will be in the upper part of the zone 64, and the by-pass through the return pipe 68 will be small and the rush of oil through the ports 60 will raise the valve 63 to close the ports 60 and the pressure will hold the valve closed. At this time the piston 57 will be passing from the zone 64 to the Zone 65 and the large by-pass through the return pipe will allow the oil to transfer rapidly from below the piston to the top of the piston, and at this time the pin 94 will be on top of the arms 96 and 97 and will throw the stop signal 95 outwardly. As the piston passes from the Zone 65 to the zone 66, the small by-pass through the return pipe 71 will reduce the descending speed of the piston and'hold the stop signal extended and raise it higher and higher until the pin 94 passes the ends of the arms 96 and 97 shown in Fig. 7. Then the stop signal 95 is free to fall into withdrawn position and the piston 57 is passing from the zone 66 tu the zone. 67 and the large by-pass through the return pipe 73 will allow the piston o descend quickly to the bottom of the cylinn der, or until the head 63 strikes the bottom of the cylinder and when the pressure is exhausted the valve 63 will move downwardly upon the stein 61 and open the ports 60 ready for another operation.

1f a second pedestrian passes the turnstile during the descent of the piston 57, the piston will be again raised without going to the bottom, and if the turnstile is continually operated in rapid succession the slow signal will be extended and moving up and down all the time.

The details of the exit turnstile 23 are as follows:

A post 101 is rotatably mounted through the cover 31 and in a bearing 102 at the bottom of the chamber 30 and is held against rotation backwards by a pawl wheel 103 engaged by a pawl 104. A rigid post 105 is mounted inside of the rotating post 101 so that the pedestrians may pass between tho post 101 and the post 105 outwardly and not inwardly. The turnstile 23 forms a barrier across the space 4 from the railing 22 to the curb 2 so that a pedestrian crossing the zone 11 must pass through the turnstile 23 to get to the sidewalk 6, and so that pedestrians cannot pass through the turnstile 23 to the safety Zone 11.

The details of the slow signal tower 18 are as follows:

A pedestal 106 is rigidly mounted upon the cover 33 and the housing 107 has a bottom 108 bolted to the upper end of the pedestal 106. A piston cylinder 109 extends upwardly from the bottom 108. A dash pot piston 110 fits in the cylinder 109 and has ports 111. A stem 112 extends downwardly from the piston 110 and has a iead 113 on its lower end. A plate valve 114 is slidingly mounted on the stem 112 to open and close the ports 110. The piston rod 115 extends upwardly from the piston 110 through the cylinder head and stuliing box 116. A return pipe 117 is connected to the cylinder chamber near the top and to the center of the cylinder chamber and has a regulating valve 118. VA larger by-pass return pipe 119 is connected to the center of the cylinder chamber and to the bottom of the cylinder chamber. A pivot arm 120 extends upwardly from the cylinder 109 and the lever 121 of the slow signal 122 is connected to the arm 120 by a pivot 123 and has a slot 124. The upper end of the piston rod 115 is bifurcated to straddle the lever 121 and a pin 125 is inserted through the bifurcations and through the slot 124. A cable 126 is connected to the opposite end of the lever 121 from the signal 122 and extends downwardly through a housing 127 and through the cover 33 under a guide roller 128 mounted to extend downwardly from the cover and through the conduit 36 and is connected to the cable 83 at the point 129 so that the slow signal is operated from the turnstile 16 simultaneously with the operation of the stop signal. `When a pedestrian passes the turnstile 16 the cable 126 is pulled to throw the slow signal 122 outwardly, and at the same time the piston 110 is raised to the top of the chamber of the cylinder 109. l/Vhen the tension on the cable 126 is released the weight of the parts will cause the cylinder 110 to start to descend, thereby moving the valve 114 into position to close the ports 111, and the slow by-pass through the pipe 117 will hold the signal extended and to slowly descend until the piston reaches the lower half of the chamber, and then the free 1oy-pass through the pipe 119 will allow the piston to descend quickly, thereby withdrawing the slow signal into the casing 107.

The mechanism along the space 5 between the curb 3 and sidewalk 7, including the entrance turnstile 19, the stop signal tower 20, the exit turnstile 25 and the slow signal tower 21, is identical in construction and operation with the mechanism along the space 4 including the entrance turnstile 16, the stop signal tower 17, the exit turnstile 23, and the slow signal tower 18 already described.

The cable 13G extending from the entrance turnstile 19 over the pulleys 131 in the chamber 8 passes over pulleys 132 in the chamber 9 and is connected to the cable 83 at the point 133.

In a like manner, the cable 50 passing the guide rollers 51 and passing through the conduit 10 and around the guide rollers 52 in the chamber 8 is connected at the point 134 to the cable 135 which comes from the stop signal tower 2O and corresponds to the cable 83 and the cable 136 coming from the slow signal tower 21 is connected to the cable 135 at the point 137, thus connecting the organization on one side of the highway to the organization on the other side of the highway for simultaneous operation, the only difference between the two organizations being that the slow signal tower 18 is directed to the coming trafiic in the line 14, while the slow signal tower 21 is directed to the coming traliic in the line 15. Pedestrians entering the safety zone 11 through the turnstile 19y will operate the signals 20 and 21 and the signals 17 and 18, and in a like manner pedestrians entering the safety zone 11 through the turnstile 16 will operate all four signals.

Thus I have produced a Zone in a highway which will be perfectly safe for pedestrians as long as the mechanism is in working order and the vehicular traffic obeys the signals.

Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. The means for forming a safety zone crosswise of a highway, which consists of erecting barriers along opposite sides of the highway with the ends of the barriers adjacent to the highway and the intermediate portions of the barriers spaced from the highway, constructing turnstiles in the bearriers, constructing extensible and withdrawable signals in the direction of the coming trafhc from the turnstiles, and connecting all the signals together and connecting all the signals to the turnstiles so that the operation of either turnstile by a passing pedestrian will operate and extend all the signals.

2. 'The means for forming a safety Zone crosswise of a highway, which consists of mounting entrance turnstiles so that pedestrians cannot enter the Zone except through the entrance turnstiles, mounting extensible and withdrawable signals in positions to warn passing traffic, and connecting the signals together and to the turnstiles so that the operation of either turnstile will extend the signals.

3. The means for forming a safety zone crosswise of a highway, which consists of mounting entrance turnstiles so that pedestrians cannot enter the zone except through the entrance turnstiles, mounting extensible and withdrawable signals in positions to warn passing traiiic, and connecting the signals together and to the turnstiles, the connections between the signals passing through a conduit under the highway, so that the operation of either turnstile will extend the signals.

4. The means for forming a safety Zone crosswise of a highway, which consists of mounting entrance turnstiles so that pedestrians cannot enter the zone except through the entrance turnstiles, mounting extensible and withdrawable signals in positions to warn passing traiiic, and connecting the signals together and to the turnstiles, the connections between the signals passing through a conduit under the highway, all the other connections being covered chambers and conduits below the level of the ground, so that the operation of either turnstile will extend the signals.

5. The means for forming a safety zone crosswise of a highway, which consists of mounting entrance turnstiles so that pedestrians cannot enter the zone except through the entrance turnstiles, mounting extensible and withdrawable stop Isignals toward the oncoming trafhc, mounting extensible and withdrawable slow signals beyond the stop signals from the zone, and connecting all the signals together and to the turnstiles so.

that the operation of either turnstile will extend the signals.

6. The means for forming a safety zone crosswise of a highway, which consists of mounting entrance tnrnstiles so that pedes` trians cannot enter the Zone except through the entrance turnstiles`r mounting exit turnstiles so that persons crossing the Zone may pass through the exit turnstiles, mounting extensible and Withdrawable signals in p0- sitions to Warn passing traffic, and connecting all the signals together and to the entrance turnstiles so that the operation ot either entrance turnstle Will extend all the signals.

7. The means for forming a safety Zone crosswise of a highway which consists of mounting entrance turnstiles so that pedestrians cannot enter the Zone except through the entrance turnstiles, mounting exit turnstiles so that persons crossing the zone may pass through the exit turnstiles7 mounting extensible and Withdrawable signals in po sitions to Warn passing traffic, and connecting all the signals together and to the entrance turnstiles so that the operation of either entrance turnstile will extend all the signals, there being dash pot construc' tions for regulating the Withdrawal of the signals.

8. In a safety Zone, entrance turnstiles adapted to be mounted diagonally of a high- Way and on opposite sides thereof, signals adapted to be mounted on opposite sides of the highway and toward the oncoming traffic from the entrance turnstile, and means for connecting the signals t0- gether and to the turnstiles so that the operation of either turnstile Will operate the signals.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciication.

GLEN R. WESTCOTT. 

